Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to land a triple axel at the Winter Olympics when she landed the jump in the team competition in Pyeongchang.

USA TODAY Sports

GANGNEUNG, South Korea — The pairs figure skating team from North Korea, Ryom Tae-Ok and Kim Ju Sik, had two aims coming into their opening performance at the Winter Olympics.

With no chance for a medal, they wanted to finish in the top 16 out of 22 teams and qualify for the second round. And, they wanted to make the South Korean crowd fall in love with them.

Check. And check.

Ryom, 19, and Kim, 25, wowed the crowd with their short program effort on Wednesday morning, recording a score of 69.40 — their personal best. The North Koreans would end up in 11th place at the end of the program, with American married couple Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim in 14th.

Sun Weijing and Han Cong of China lead going into Thursday’s free skate after posting a score of 82.39.

They even spoke to the media afterwards, briefly, but didn’t stray too far from what was likely an official script.

“First of all there have been no inconveniences here at all when it comes to life here in the South area,” Kim said, through a translator. “And we can really feel the power and the energy of the Korean people.”

In response to a second question he continued: “Like I said before, the support from the Korean people was really good.”

In the stands, the North Korean “Army of Beauties” cheer squad loudly voiced their support, as did the predominantly South Korean audience.